Kamathipura

C18
Kamathipura is named after the Kamathis, workers from Andhra
who came to the city from 1795, and settled in the flat areas which
were rendered livable by the construction of the
Hornby
Vellard and the
Bellasis
Road. It is bounded by the latter on the north, and by Grant
Road on the south and the main road across it is called the
Falkland Road.

C19
The area developed into the city's main red-light district by the end
of the nineteenth century. A visiting missionary's description
still holds true today.

"... the ground floor open to the road, like native shops. In these
lower as well as in the upper rooms were native women calling to the
male passers-by of various nationalities."